Modern microprocessor built from complementary carbon nanotube transistors

Autor: Christian Lau, Gage Hills, Arvind, Denis Murphy, Anantha P. Chandrakasan, Rebecca Ho, Yosi Stein, Samuel H. Fuller, Tathagata Srimani, Mindy D. Bishop, Pritpal Kanhaiya, Max M. Shulaker, Andrew Wright, Aya G. Amer
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature. 572:595-602
ISSN: 1476-4687
0028-0836
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1493-8
Popis: Electronics is approaching a major paradigm shift because silicon transistor scaling no longer yields historical energy-efficiency benefits, spurring research towards beyond-silicon nanotechnologies. In particular, carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (CNFET)-based digital circuits promise substantial energy-efficiency benefits, but the inability to perfectly control intrinsic nanoscale defects and variability in carbon nanotubes has precluded the realization of very-large-scale integrated systems. Here we overcome these challenges to demonstrate a beyond-silicon microprocessor built entirely from CNFETs. This 16-bit microprocessor is based on the RISC-V instruction set, runs standard 32-bit instructions on 16-bit data and addresses, comprises more than 14,000 complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor CNFETs and is designed and fabricated using industry-standard design flows and processes. We propose a manufacturing methodology for carbon nanotubes, a set of combined processing and design techniques for overcoming nanoscale imperfections at macroscopic scales across full wafer substrates. This work experimentally validates a promising path towards practical beyond-silicon electronic systems. A 16-bit microprocessor built from over 14,000 carbon nanotube transistors may enable energy efficiency advances in electronics technologies beyond silicon.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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